Knowledge is a Burden
by cleverun
Summary: After Ben learned of his parents death, he learned that Sandra and Carl weren't his real parents. He is determined to learn who his real parents are, but perhaps some things are best kept secret. THE STORY'S NOT OVER.
1. And to Think

**Author's note:** I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 1: And to Think

Thirsty, Sandra Tennyson looked in the refrigerator for any refreshments. She took out the last container of juice and drank the last of it.

"Ben," she called.

"Yeah?" her son called from his bedroom.

"I'm going out to buy some drinks. Do you want anything?"

"No, mom." Ben called back.

"Okay," she grabbed her purse. "I'll be back in an hour." With that, she left.

With his dad at the bank, Ben had the house to himself. He turned up the volume on the TV, not caring much about his parents' departure, believing his parent's' trip was routine.

"_We interrupt this program to bring you an important news bulletin,_" A newscaster reported from the TV.

Ben turned up the volume. It was about ten minutes since his folks left.

"_There have been seven recorded fires in the local area. Reports say..._" The scene changed to seven different buildings, one of them being the bank his father goes to, another being the market his mother usually goes to. The bank had completely collapsed, and the market was falling apart.

Without hesitation, Ben turned into Jetray and flew out his window, praying that his parents were okay.

Ben flew like a maniac toward the bank. He transformed into his human form, and ran to a cop. Tears were stinging his eyes.

"Excuse me, sir!" Ben yelled with a lump in his throat. "D-did you find Carl Tennyson?"

"Um..." The cop said. "Let me check. Hey, guys!" He called the rest. "Did we find a man named Carl Tennyson?"

"What does he look like?" Someone called back.

"What does he look like, son?" The police man repeated to Ben.

"Just like me. He's my dad," Ben said quickly.

"He looks just like Ben Tennyson, but older!" The cop repeated to the other officer.

Ben tapped his fingers on the officer's car in anticipation while he waited for the officers to find his father. He wanted to check on his mom, but he couldn't leave his dad.

"I... I can't wait around here all day! My mom's in one of the other buildings that were on fire!" Tears were threatening to overflow from his eyes. "I- just call me when you find him!" Ben turned into Jetray and was gone in a flash.

Ben hadn't gotten to the market a moment too soon. He changed to human form and ran to a officer next to an ambulance.

"Have you seen-" Ben stopped. He saw his mother being put onto a stretcher in the distance.

"Mom!" He yelled. Tears finally flowed uncontrollably from his eyes as he saw his mothers' condition.

Her clothes, skin, and flesh were burned severely in different places. She was unconscious and was wearing a breathing mask. He ran to her at full speed. "Mom! MOM!" He pushed aside doctors and policemen in his way. "Let me through! That's my mother!" He finally got through. "MOM!" He put his hands on her and shook her. "Mom! Please, wake up! _Please!_" The world around him seemed to fade. He was crying almost violently. "MOMMMMM! I'm sorry-" He suddenly felt someone grab his arms and pull him away. "NOOO! NO, PLEASE! THAT'S MY MOTHER! PLEASE!"

_Beep... Beep... Beep._..

Sandra Tennyson's slow heart rate echoed through the hospital room. Cousins Gwen and Ben Tennyson held each other's hands, though Ben never took his eyes off his mother. He sniffled. Officers had called him to identify a body, which he confirmed was Carl Tennyson. He already lost one parent, and he was losing the other.

While his mother was in the hospital, Frank and Lily Tennyson let Ben stay at their house. It was the least they could do.

In the same room was Kevin Levin, their friend. He, too, had experiences with losing a parent, but his mother was still alive. Even so, Gwen and his conscious told him to go and comfort Ben anyway.

The door opened, revealing a very worried Julie on the other side. "Ben?" She called. Ben's eyes were glued to his mother. Julie walked over to Ben and kissed his cheek.

"I could've saved them," Ben whispered. Julie looked at Gwen with a worried expression.

_That's the fifteenth time he said that_, Gwen mouthed.

Julie looked at her boyfriend. "Ben?" She repeated.

He was quiet. Then, suddenly, his eyes widened. "She's moving!" He yelled.

The rest turned to face Sandra, who was beginning to open her eyes.

"Mom! Can you hear me, mom? Mom!" Ben gently though anxiously tapped his mother.

She turned to her son. "B...Ben..."

He held his mom's hand in both of his. "...Mom?" Ben had new found hope in his heart, but it was short lived.

"Ben..." She whispered. "I'm not going to make it."

Everyone's heart broke.

"No..." Ben whispered. "No... No, mom, don't say that!"

"Ben, listen."

"No! You're going to make it! Don't talk! Save your breath!" He began to silently cry.

"Ben... please."

Ben's lower lip began to twitch. "I can't lose both of you," he whispered.

"Ben," finally, he became quiet. "Ben, I'm sorry for keeping this a secret all these years."

"What?"

"There's something I have to tell you," she paused. "I just don't know how." Ben leaned in closer. Sandra took in a deep breath. "Ben... in 1993, I got pregnant. Eight months later, the summer of 1994, I gave birth to a baby boy." She paused. "His name was Christopher."

"Christopher?" The summer of 1994 was when Ben was born.

"He had blonde hair and yellow eyes." She took another deep breath. "When he was one week old, he died." She closed her eyes. "The very next day, our doorbell rang. When I opened it, no one was there. It was just a box." Her voice was becoming fainter. "The box had 'handle with care' written all over it. I placed it on the table..." She stared at the wall in front of her. "...And I opened it." She looked at Ben. "Inside... was a baby boy." They all gasped. "There was a note in the box. It said how old the baby was, how much it weighed, and all sorts of information like that. It was similar to Christopher, only..." She paused. "His name was Benjamin." She took in her final breath, and closed her eyes for the last time.

Ben's eyes were wide with shock. He let his mother's hand slip from his own. He blinked once, and then squeezed his eyes shut. His expression was full of hurt and pain.

"...Ben-" Gwen tried to call, but Ben got up and ran out of the room.

And to think, all of this could've been avoided if Sandra and Carl chose another time to go out.


	2. Weed it and Weep

**Author's note:** I don't own Ben 10. If you read the prologue, you'd know 'can' means 'son' in an ancient language. If you didn't, well, now you know. T for drug use (well, almost).

Chapter 2: Weed it and Weep

"Where'd he go?" Gwen yelled franticly as she searched the hospital for her cousin.

"Excuse me?" Julie asked. "Does anyone know where Ben 10 went?" A nurse pointed to the stairway. "Thank you!" They ran there in a hurry.

"Ben!" Gwen called.

"Leave me alone!" Ben yelled from the bottom of the stairs. He ran out of view.

"Uh!" Gwen jumped off the stairs and ran down using her energy panels, Kevin and Julie not far behind.

They fell from the ground about a foot in the air, then slammed through the door at bullet speed- only to see Ben driving away.

"Oh, Ben!" Gwen yelled. They ran into the car and drove beyond the speed limit- faster than they usually do beyond speed limit. Unfortunately, Ben drove faster. They lost sight of him as soon as they began the drive.

"Where do you think he went?" Kevin asked.

"His house," Gwen replied. "Where else?"

And once again, Gwen was proven right. Ben's car was double parked in front of the house- with the car door wide open and the engine still on. The three practically flew inside the house, into Ben's room.

"Ben-?" Gwen yelled, but stopped herself as she saw the gruesome picture in front of her eyes.

Ben- her own goody-good cousin- had a cigarette in his mouth, and was attempting to light it.

"BEN, STOP!" Gwen yelled as she threw herself at her cousin.

"GET OFF ME! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?" Ben yelled in sadness and frustration. His voice broke in the middle of his sentence, and he began to silently cry.

~Conzit can~Conzit can~Conzit can~

Ben was sitting on the bed, eyes red from earlier, and Kevin, Gwen, and Julie were in chairs facing him.

"So..." Ben said in barely a whisper, "I should probably start explaining things..."

"You think?" Kevin asked.

"What was that?" Gwen asked quietly, referring to the blunt Ben had earlier.

"Weed," Ben replied in a tone so quiet, the three had to strain to hear.

"And where the hell did you get weed?" Julie asked seriously.

"..." There was a long silence. Finally: "I use to smoke when I was younger. One of my friends convinced me to stop, but I still kept one or two just in case... I... _needed_ it. I didn't use it for two years, but..." he trailed off.

There was silence. A long, unbearable silence.

"...All this time..." Ben said, mostly to himself, "...I felt nothing that told me I was different. I was... a Tennyson through and through. I... guess I just went into a state of shock." He sighed.

"Ben, I'm so sorry," Julie said.

"Don't be."

"But wait," Kevin said, "who would just leave their baby in a box in front of someone's house?"

"I..." Ben replied. Then, bringing back his old confidant tone the three hadn't heard in days, "I want to find out."

"You mean, you want to look for your parents?" Gwen asked. "But, how?"

Ben thought hard. Then, his eyes widened. "Now it makes sense..."

"What makes sense?"

He paused. "I'll show you."

~Conzit can~Conzit can~Conzit can~

They were in Ben's mother's room, and Ben was looking franticly for something.

"Come on, come on," Ben whispered. "I know it's here somewhere..."

Kevin had his arms crossed, and he began to tap his fingers on one of his arms. "So... what are we looking for?" He asked.

"My mom said she found me in a box," Ben replied. "When I was like, I don't know, four, I found a box that said 'handle with care' all over it. It had a note inside, but I didn't really know how to read back then. I..." He was about to say something, but trailed off. "Anyway, I couldn't make any sense of it at the time. But if I could find it, then maybe..."

"You could find a clue about your parents," Julie finished.

He nodded, and then kept looking. After about an hour of destroying the room, and a massive loss of hope, Ben looked like he hit a gold mine.

"I FOUND IT!" He yelled.

Kevin, who had been taking a nap, woke up suddenly. "W-wha- found what?" He asked drowsily.

"The box!" He replied. After the three came over, Ben opened the box. Inside was a white blanket with an odd symbol on it. And, more importantly, a note that was shaped like a receipt. He took it out and read it aloud:

_Length: nine inches_

_Weight: ten pounds_

_Date of birth: July 24, 1994_

_Original features: black hair, green/red eyes_

_Name: Benjamin Notredame Victor Snakescin_

_Please take care of my son. I treasure his life as much as my own. Please understand, the circumstances that I am in keep me from raising this child. Care for him as you care for your own life._

_~Xx Y xX_

"...But why..." Ben asked, then said, "Notre dame... isn't that a place in Europe?"

"...I think so," Gwen said.

"So she has something to do with Europe...?" Ben asked. "And Snakescin..."

"Wait," Kevin asked. "Is that _snakeskin_or_snakesin_?"

"Beats me," Ben replied. "But at least we have a name."

"I'll try looking your name up online," Gwen suggested.

Ben put the note back in the box, and then closed it. "That'd be great. Kevin, can you find who this handwriting belongs to?"

"Sure," Kevin said. "I think…"

"With Julie's help," Ben added, giving the box to Julie.

"Why? You think I'm going to sell it to some criminal?"

Ben whispered something to Julie that made her laugh. "Yes."

"So... you're going to sleep at my place?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, I don't have anywhere better to go," Ben replied.

~Conzit can~Conzit can~Conzit can~

"Ben," Gwen called. They were at Gwen's house, getting ready to go to bed.

"Yeah, Gwen?" Ben replied.

"You said a friend talked you out of smoking. Who was it?"

"...You don't know him," Ben replied.

"Well, can I know his name?" She urged on.

"...Manny. But not the Manny you know. It's another Manny."

And that would not be the last time Ben said 'my friend' or 'you don't know him'.

**Author's note: '**Conzit' means 'Haggon'. R&R


	3. The Most Embarrassing Dad in the World

**A/N**: I got lazy and decided not to write "Author's note" anymore. Me, Ben 10, and owning something? They have nothing to do with each other.

Chapter 3: The Most Embarrassing Father in the World

Nothing.

A week of looking up the name "Benjamin Notredame Victor Snakescin", a week of looking for any signature that matched the note, a week of inspecting the box my mom (Sandra) found me in, and this is what we have to show for all our hard work:

Nothing.

No lead whatsoever. Everything we found just leads us back to square one.

I might have sounded hopeful, looked hopeful, but I wasn't. I was in despair- and yes, I know what it means!

I knew _nothing_about my parents, minus the fact that my mother and/or father were under certain "circumstances" that kept them from raising me. I didn't know if one of them died, if they were both dead, if they had me when they were really young, heck- I didn't even know if they were _human._ They could've been aliens that knew Grandpa Max was a plumber, and his family wouldn't mind raising a child that had weird powers. For all I know, my family could've been Popcorn People from Mars.

I was thinking this while I was lying down in my bedroom on my bed, but the doorbell interrupted me.

_Gwen_, I thought. _She's here to tell me to go back to her house._ I didn't feel like answering the door, but something told me to get up.

When I opened the door, I found a note on the doormat. I picked it up and read:

_Benjamin Notredame Victor Snakescin,_

_I heard you want to learn more about your family. Well, I'm no stalker, but I know all about your family. Your father is actually quite famous, you know. Well, at least in our world. I'll be happy to tell you all about him. Just meet me at the nearest forest, and we can have a nice little chat. You can go anywhere in the forest. Trust me, I'll find you. Meet me at 9:00PM sharp. See you there._

_-VES_

I was so excited that someone knew my parents; I completely ignored any suspicious feelings. I dialed Gwen's number.

~Shan VES~Shan VES~Shan VES~

"Are you _sure_this is the place, Ben?" Gwen asked.

"No. But really, you try to name a better place." Ben replied.

"Plus, how do you know this guy is for real?" Kevin added. " '_I'm no stalker, but I know everything about your family. Your dad's famous in_our_world. Just meet me at nine in anywhere in a forest near you!_ I mean, really?"

"Look, it's the only lead we have! If it's not enough for you-"

"Hello?" A girl said.

"Huh?" Ben asked. They all turned around to see a girl, maybe thirteen years old, wearing a faded violet dress with her cherry cola hair and braids.

"Are you Benjamin? The one who seeks his parents?" the girl asked.

"Yes. Who are you?" Ben replied.

Instead of replying, she turned around and said: "Ne coo! Ne coo!"

Two women and a man fell from the tree the girl was facing. They fell on their feet like cats.

"Benjamin," the man said simply. He had dark red hair and chestnut eyes, and his skin was a caramel-golden color. "I have been waiting to see you."

"So... do you know who my parents are or not?" Ben pressed.

"Yes..." the man replied, "I know him. Everyone should know him."

"Okay... so who is he?"

"He is an evil man," the man said vaguely.

"Evil? How is he evil?" Ben asked, astonished.

The man narrowed his eyes. "You will never find out."

Before Ben knew what was happening, a pink shield flashed before him, and then shattered on impact from a long, thin silver sword.

"Come, now," the man said as the two women pulled out blue swords. "You want to know what your father's like? Well, he doesn't care about your friends. He's killed more people than you can ever imagine. Once you die, your father will be broken."

"That's insane!" Ben yelled.

"You want to kill Ben?" Kevin asked. "Get in line. A lot of people tried to kill Ben, and he hardly came out with a scratch."

"Well, those people are nothing like us," the man responded.

"Well, no duh," Kevin said as he absorbed a nearby oak tree. "The people we fought weren't human!"

"What a coincidence. Neither are we," the man then jumped up to what could possibly be over a hundred feet in the air, then nearly sliced Ben's arm off in one swift move. The sword ended up half submerged in dirt.

"What are you guys?" Gwen asked.

"Conzites," he replied, pulling out the sword.

Ben transformed. "Wrath-" He tried to yell, but the man took advantage of his pause and kicked him in the gut so hard, Ben went flying. Gwen lit her hands up with pink energy, but it dissolved. Gwen fell on her butt as if she were punched, then looked up to see the two women holding their hands up, palms toward her.

"Hey!" Kevin yelled. He turned his hand into a mallet and swung it at the two women, but the mallet shattered on impact, and the women hardly budged.

"Is that all?" One of them asked. She was a ginger, and had yellow eyes and a Russian accent.

"You are weak," the other woman agreed. She had bronze-colored hair and red eyes. She, too, had a Russian accent.

"...W-what are you?" Was all Kevin managed to say.

"Did you not hear Nedisel?" The first woman asked, moving her head toward the man. "We are Conzites."

"Yeah, well, I've never heard of Conzites before. What planet are you from?"

"Earth," the second woman replied.

"Earth?" Kevin repeated.

"We Conzites like to keep to ourselves," the first woman said.

"But what exactly are you?" Kevin pressed.

"We are older than humans-far older- but most of us are humanoid."

"Alright, but, who's Ben's dad?"

The first woman looked at Nedisel kicking Ben's butt, and then at the second woman, who left from their little chat to deal with Gwen, and they were both doing well in the fight. The first woman turned back to Kevin. "Very well. Since you are not the one I need to kill, I shall tell you _certain_ things about him. First, his short name is Pan. He is a Conzit, which in English means 'Haggon'. Haggons are older and more powerful than Conzites, or Haggins, in your language."

"Well, what did Pan do that was so bad?"

"I cannot tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Because it is dangerous to speak of it. It causes bad luck."

"Okay, well what does VES stand for?"

"We were pretending to be Benjamin's twin brother, Victor."

Kevin blinked. "...Ben has a twin brother?"

Their conversation was cut short when they heard a loud explosion.

"Kevin! A little help here!" Gwen yelled. She had a shield around her and the now unconscious hero, and from the looks of it, she couldn't hold on much longer.

"Why do you have to kill Ben, anyway?"

"Pan favors Benjamin over Victor."

"No I mean, why do you have to kill him? He doesn't even know what his dad did wrong. Besides, you shouldn't kill someone just because their father's evil."

"...Perhaps you are right." She faced the other four. "Nedisel! Changela!" She yelled.

Nedisel, Changela and Gwen all faced the woman as Ben slowly lifted his head.

"We can kill Pan the day we find him, but for now, we cannot unleash our anger on this child. We must leave now."

The two hesitantly followed her orders.

"Thanks, uh, what was your name?" Kevin asked.

"Volibia." She replied, and then quickly vanished into the woods. Changela followed, then finally Nedisel.

"Well, that was a waste of time," Ben said as he slowly got up.

"Not really," Kevin replied. I found out your dad's name, Pan. Also, you have a twin brother named Victor."

"Really?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah. Also, your dad's not human. He's something called a Haggon, which are apparently way worse than Conzites, which are actually called Haggins."

"So... I'm half alien?" Ben asked.

"They said they were from Earth, but I don't know if that's true."

"Okay, well, at least we have some sort of lead."

"Yeah, but the question is, where to next?" Gwen asked.

**A/N:** And to Think wasn't a very long chapter. It just felt long. Also, I got embarrassed when you didn't review chapter 8 of 10-10 so REVIEW OR YOU'LL HURT MY FEELINGS!


	4. An Impossible Quest

**A/N: **Woo! It's been a while. Anyway, I. Don't. Own. _**Anything.**_ Except Ecto Plasm. And Jamaica. And Pan. And Victor. And Foxville, and Niejun, and I like the word ginger.

Chapter 4: An Impossible Quest

Jamaica sat down and looked out the window, her ginger curls bouncing as she moved.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Juniper asked.

"Nothing, mom," Jamaica replied. "It's just..." she sighed. "It's amazing how small this world is, you know?"

"Oh, I know, sweetheart. I knew how to find my way around this town when I was nine, and Niejun when I was ten."

"I memorized a map of both towns when I was seven."

Juniper laughed. "And Forrest when he was six." She took out a fold-up chair from the closet and sat down next to her.

"Mom," Jamaica asked, "You know how Mayor EP always says to question everything, because that's how discoveries are made?

"Yes?"

"Well, what if there was something other than Foxville and Niejun? Maybe, a third town we haven't discovered yet?"

Juniper smiled. "Maybe. Perhaps you could be the one to discover the third town."

Jamaica smiled back. "Maybe." She got up. "I'm gonna visit Gabie, Kay, mom?"

"Alright."

Jamaica got her coat. "Forrest," she called. "I'm going to Gabie's. Wanna come?"

"Sure," Forrest replied.

"I'll wait for you outside."

Jamaica had no idea what she was in for.

Later, at a different place...

"Got anything, Gwen?" Ben asked.

"Nothing," Gwen said, shutting down the computer. "These Haggins are better at hiding than I thought."

"Great," said Kevin. "What are we suppose to do now? Wait for another miracle? It's not like we can find Ben's parents without-"

Gwen's computer began flashing.

"What's happening?" Ben asked.

"I don't know," she replied, moving the mouse around. Suddenly, the monitor was still, and a single word appeared in the middle of the screen:

**Hello**

"Uh... Gwen, who _is_ that?" Ben asked.

"I don't know," Gwen replied.

**I heard you're looking for Ben's parents**

"You can hear us?" Kevin asked.

_**No**_**, I can't**

"Okay, enough games," Ben said. "Who are you, and what do you know-"

**My name is Ecto Plasm, a highly advanced computer created by the Haggins. I know you're name is Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, and that your birth name is Benjamin Notredame Victor Snakescin, pronounced **_**snakeskin,**_** and that your father's name is Pan, and that he's a Haggin, and that you have an identical twin brother named Victor Envy Snakescin, and that your adopted parents are Sandra and Carl Tennyson, and that they recently died. I know that ginger is named Gwendolyn Tennyson, and that she's you're adopted cousin, and her parents are named Frank and Lily, and she has an older brother named Kenneth Tennyson, whom is also a ginger, and is in collage. I know that the other kid is Kevin Ethan Levin, and that his dad died on plummer duty, and he always wanted to be a plummer, and that now, he is one. Also, I know Gwen and Kevin have been dating for a year. And I know more.**

"Wow," Gwen said.

"Okay," Ben said, "But, do you know-"

**I know everything. I **_**was**_** going to tell you where your dad, mom, and brother are, but now I'm not.**

"Why not?" Ben asked, frustrated.

**Because I want to make you a deal. I cannot explain everything, but I will tell you this. I watched the humans for thousands of years, and became sick of the greed, bloodshed, and deaths of mankind. So I created a world completely oblivious to the outside world. It's perfect. No crimes, no drugs, no wars, no lies, and no one fights the other simply because they are different. And because there's no currency, there's no greed. Robots do all the work. Food and houses are free. There's hardly any arguments. The only problem is, the world is so small. Some citizens get curious, wondering if there was more than just their world. In this case, curiosity killed the cat.**

"What do you mean?"

**A girl around your age managed to find a way out. She has no clue how to defend herself. Hell, she's never **_**seen**_** anyone get yelled at, let alone have gotten yelled at herself. She doesn't know the definition of rape, murder, crime, robbery, not even money.**

"That poor, poor kid." Kevin said while shaking his head.

**This isn't funny. She could get hurt.**

"So, you want us to return her to your 'perfect world' in exchange for what you know about Ben's parents?" Gwen asked.

**Yes. Please. She needs your help.**

"Don't worry, we'll find her. Where is she?" Ben asked.

**You know that forest where you met Nedisel, Changela and Volibia?**

"Yeah?"

**She should be there. Just yell her name, Jamaica.**

"Her name's Jamaica?" Ben asked.

**Yes. And, also, there's something else you should know. Jamaica isn't exactly human. She's a humanoid, but not really human. I changed their DNA a bit, so now...**

"What?"

**She looks like a fox. Good luck.**

The computer shut down.

"Alright," Ben said. "Let's get going."

Later, in _another_ different place...

"Jamaica!" Ben aimlessly yelled.

Meanwhile, Kevin sat by a tree, bored out of his mind. "Man," he said, "I can't believe we're actually doing this."

"Kevin," Gwen scolded, "this is the best lead we've had so far. You should be a little more supportive."

"Me? What about you?" Kevin addressed, referring to the fact that she was sitting right next to him.

Gwen acted as though she were about to say something, but instead just sighed and said, "Okay, I'll admit, it seems weird, to just..."

"Scream at the sky like a moron?" Kevin suggested.

"Well, not exactly-"

"Jamaica!" Ben called again.

"...I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone," Gwen said. Kevin just laughed.

While they were having fun, they hadn't noticed that Ben wandered so far, he had to shout to be heard by them. But he kept walking.

"Jamaica! Jamai-OMF!" Ben was cut off when something pounced on him. At first, he thought it was a fox, but then, it spoke.

"Oh, thank goodness someone here knows me!" She yelled. "Now, who are you?" She got up from the monster hug, letting Ben get a better look at her.

She looked liked a fox who could stand up straight, and was wearing on human clothing. The only thing that kept him from confusing her with a trained fox was her long, curly, human hair, and her human figure. That, and she could talk.

"I'm Ben 10," he said flatly, while getting up.

She tilted her head.

"The super hero?"

She blinked.

"You really don't know about the outside world, do you?" Ben asked.

"The outside world?" She asked. "You mean, I was right? There is more than just Foxville and Niejun? There is a third town?"

"Fox- what? A third town?" Ben sat down. "Jamaica, There are galaxies out there. Billions and billions of them."

"...Is a galaxy a group of towns?" She asked, astonished by the possible number of towns there could be.

"No," Ben said, laughing. "Okay, let's start small. This town is called Bellwood."

"Bellwood," Jamaica said quietly to herself.

"Now, Bellwood is a part of a state, which could hold... I don't know, a lot of towns. This state is called Tennessee (**A/N:** Well, I'm not sure, but it seems like a good guess)."

"Tennessee," she repeated.

"States are a part of a country. Different countries have different amounts of states. This country has fifty states. It's called the United States of America, or U.S.A."

She blinked.

"U.S.A. is part of a continent. This continent is called North America. It has three countries, and different continents have different amounts of countries. North America is a part of this planet. This planet is called Earth, which has seven continents. Earth is a part of a solar system. This solar system has eight planets, but Earth is the only one with life. Now, this is a little tricky. In this galaxy, there are billions, maybe trillions of solar systems. And many solar systems have life on at least one planet. Our galaxy is a part of a universe, which could have a countless number of galaxies. And it doesn't stop there. There could be more universes we haven't discovered yet. So, did you get all that?"

Jamaica seemed to be frozen. Her head was tilted to the side, and her eyes were wide.

"Jamaica?" Ben snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Jamai-"

"OH MY GOODNESS!" Jamaica exclaimed. Ben nearly fell backwards by her sudden outburst. "That's so many towns!"

"Yeah..." Ben said. "...it sure is..."

"Oh, but I can't wait to meet all the people, and bring all my friends-"

"Uh, Jamaica-"

"But why are there so many towns? Why didn't I know about them before? Why do-"

"Jamaica!"

"Yes?"

"You have to go back to your own town. Now."

"Why? Can't I just-"

"No. Have you heard of Ecto Plasm?"

"You mean Mayor Ecto Plasm?"

"Yeah, she wants you back in your town."

"Foxville?"

Ben smirked. "Yeah, Foxville."

"But why? Ecto Plasm always taught us to explore beyond reason and common knowledge. Why won't she let me explore this new to- I mean universe?"

Ben gulped. "Well, you see, our world isn't exactly... 'perfect'..."

"Well, nothing's perfect. My town isn't perfect." Jamaica replied.

"No, that's not what I meant..."

"Then what do you mean?"

"I mean it's not safe here. There are a ton of dangerous things here that you've never even heard of."

"Like what?"

Ben grimaced. "Like... stuff... listen, we should be getting you back to... Foxville."

"Oh, but Ben, I'll die if I don't get to see this new world!" Jamaica nagged.

"Then I guess you'll die either way..." Ben mumbled. "Listen, Jamaica, Mayor EP wants you to go back to Foxville. You could get hurt up here."

"I want to hear her say that."

"I don't have time for- wait, Ecto Plasm's a girl? Ugh, never mind. You just need to-"

"I'm not going until I see Mayor EP write that she wants me to go."

Ben groaned. "Fine. Follow me."

Back with Kevin and Gwen...

"You still think he's looking for her?" Gwen asked.

"I dunno. If he found her, he would've said something by now." Kevin replied.

"Knowing Ben, he's probably still pretty determined."

"That poor guy. Wandering around aimlessly..."

"Kevin, you're starting to make me feel bad for him."

"You should. He's probably still yelling her name like a moron..."

Gwen gave him a look, then rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll go look for him."

"Hey guys!" Ben yelled.

"Ben?" Gwen answered.

He walked out of the forest holding a fox-woman's hand-er, paw. "I found her!"

"Ben, you shouldn't been here. Gwen was totally doubting you..."

"Excuse me?" Gwen said.

"Jamaica," Ben said while he held his arms out toward Gwen and Kevin in a 'here it is' way, "This is the classic boyfriend-gone-too-far-and-girlfriend-offended argument. Now, my cousin, Gwen, is going to yell at Kevin for blaming his doubt on her, and Kevin, her boyfriend, is going to say it was just a joke. They'll go on like this for the rest of the day, and then they'll forgive each other and act like it never happened."

"That doesn't always happen!" Gwen argued.

"Yeah it does," Ben and Kevin agreed.

Gwen gave Kevin a look.

"Now, notice how the female is the leader of the relationship," Ben addressed to Jamaica.

"Is not!" Kevin yelled.

"I think you're making them angry," Jamaica said.

"Yes, Jamaica," Ben replied, "I've made pissing people off my personal goal."

"Okay," Gwen interrupted before Kevin said some not-so-clever come back. "So you found her. Now what?"

"She said that she won't go back to her old home unless she hears-er, sees- Ecto Plasm say it herself." Ben answered.

Kevin paused, then said: "...Ecto Plasm's a girl?"

Later, again,

"Jamaica, quit staining my window," Ben said, barely taking his eyes off the road.

"So _this _is Bellwood," Jamaica said curiously. Her head was pressed against the window of the DX Mark 10.

"Yeah, and here there are no such thing as fox people, so I suggest you stop scaring the nice human people," Kevin said.

"Kevin, be nicer," Gwen said.

"Once I sit in the front, maybe," Kevin mumbled under his breath.

"Relax guys, we're here," Ben said.

He pulled over.

"Is that your house?" Jamaica asked.

"Yes," Ben answered what must have been the fiftieth question she'd asked that hour. "Well, at least it was."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"My parents died about a week ago, so I don't own it anymore. No one's there to pay the mortgage or anything. But the house hasn't been sold yet, so I can do whatever until it is."

"What do you mean own? Mortgage? Sold?"

Ben sighed. "It's complicated," he said simply. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door.

"What do you mean?" Jamaica asked.

Ben paused, his expression clearly showing how annoyed and careless he felt. He put his head down and pinched his forehead with three fingers. "It's too complicated to explain to you right now," he explained, impatient.

"Well, can you at least try?" She asked.

"No," Ben raised his voice.

"Why not?"

"Because I said so!" He yelled.

Jamaica's eyes widened with guilt. More guilt she had ever felt in her life. Never had anyone she'd ever meet raise his or her voice that loud. "I'm sorry!" She squeaked, covering her paws over her mouth.

He sighed. "It's alright. Just get out of the car." While Ben was getting out himself, he accidentally bumped his head on the car door. "Ow! Fu-" he stopped himself. "...dge."

"Are you alright?" Gwen asked.

"I'm fine," Ben said, standing up straight.

"Dude, I think you're getting taller," Kevin observed.

Ben slammed the door shut. "It's nothing," he said, as if it were an injury they were talking about.

He ran inside the house, straight to his room. When the others walked in, he was already on the computer, typing 'Mayor Ecto Plasm, we found Jamaica' on Google. The screen flashed, then words began to type itself on the computer:

**I know you did. But no credit's going to Gwen and Kevin, you lazy bums. I saw you.**

"Yeah, well, can we just get this over with? She needs to go home," Ben said.

**Of course. Jamaica? Honey?**

"Hi, Mayor EP!" Jamaica exclaimed.

**Jamaica, you have to go home.**

"But why right away? I need to know more about this world!" Jamaica nagged.

**...Well, now that I think of it... I think it would be best if you saw this world yourself before you return. But first, I want to have a conversation with these three in private.**

"Kay." Jamaica left.

Ben's jaw was dropped. "I-I thought you said-"

**I know, but there's been a change of plans.**

Ben let out a frustrated moan while he tossed his head back, running his fingers through his hair.

**Calm yourself, Ben. Listen, I won't tell you everything, but I will tell you this. Your father came from an extremely advanced species. Your father in particular is very old and wise. He was able to play with your genes a bit.**

"What do you mean?"

**You grew up looking like your parents because Pan made your DNA collect genes from Sandra and Carl. Now that they're gone, your original genes are taking over again. The sudden growth spurt Kevin mentioned earlier? That was a result of your genes changing. Your body's changing as we speak, into your, sort to say, 'true form'.**

"So Ben's going to get taller?" Kevin asked.

**Oh, so much more then that, Kev.**

"Will we still be able to recognize him?" Gwen asked.

**Hopefully. And as an added bonus: Ben has two older sisters, twins Whitney and Britney Snakescin. Also, they don't live in America. Not North, South, nor Central. Now, back to Jamaica,**

"How long do we have to babysit her for?" Kevin asked.

**Until she's satisfied. And, **_**DON'T SHOW HER ANYTHING UNNECESSARY.**_

"Such as...?"

**War. Bloodshed. Hell, even the slightest act of greed or wrath or bullying on the street- NONE OF IT. Show her only the good things in your world. BUT DON'T FEED HER. No candy, fast food, nothing. In America, you can't trust even the most innocent looking banana. Tell her she could eat when she comes home. Also, don't discourage her asking questions. All Foxville and Niejun citizens are incuraged to ask questions.**

"We noticed."

**And don't expose her to religion. All Foxville and Niejun citizens are atheists, so to limit fighting because of difference.**

"That's a little..." Ben trailed off.

**In fact, only show her things like carnival rides and stuff. Or video games. But if anything's to graphic for her, I'll send you a message. Gwen, her life rests in your hands, since I can't trust these boys.**

"What?" Kevin asked.

**I'm sorry, but from the looks of it, Gwen's been doing nothing but babysitting you this whole time. Anyway, I'll see you guys later. Chao!**

The screen turned blank.

And so, the Anodite, Osmosian, and Haggin reunited with Jamaica, to begin their impossibly annoying quest.

**A/N: **Long chapter!


	5. A Life Changing Vision

**A/N:** Idon'townBen10. I totally just made up words as I went along.

Chapter 5: A Life-Changing Vision

_Ignore it, Ben..._ Ben thought to himself while Jamaica was asking an avalanche of questions. _Just try to ignore it..._

"...and most of the things you have are green. Why? Is it because you love the color green? Or does it represent something?" Jamaica asked.

"I just like the color," Ben replied. He was driving the DX Mark 10, and they were on their way over to Julie's house.

_Don't discourage asking questions,_ Kevin thought. _Gwen has to discourage me from strangling her._

"We're here, thank god," Ben said.

"Who's god?" Jamaica asked.

Of course, it was easily one of the oddest questions Gwen and Kevin ever heard in their lives, but Ben just said, "The invisible magic man in the sky," through his teeth.

"That's silly," Jamaica said. "There's no invisible magic man in the sky."

"No more questions about god," Ben commanded as he got out of the car and began to walk toward Julie's house.

"Why not?" Jamaica asked.

Instead of answering, Ben rang the doorbell.

"Hey," Julie said after she opened the door.

"Who are you?" Jamaica asked.

Ben took a breath. "Julie, this is Jamaica. She's been living in this place called..." he explained the whole situation to Julie. Then, he leaned in and whispered, "_please, help us_."

Julie smiled. "Since when am I _not_ willing to? Besides, Jamaica sounds nice."

"Oh, thank you!" Jamaica exclaimed. "It's nice to meet you, Julie. Can I come inside?"

"Please."

"Great!" Jamaica ran inside the house.

"Hey, Julie?" Ben asked before the others joined Jamaica, "Do you have an aspirin? My head is killing me."

"I'll go check," Julie replied. She went inside the house to the bathroom.

As the others followed, Kevin said, "Jamaica driving you crazy, right?"

"Yeah," Ben replied, "kind of. But it's not just that. I've got this weird headache... I don't know how to describe it. It's like... all my thoughts are turning into little people that want to kill my brain."

"So you were born with the headache?" Kevin asked. "Cause' they're doing a good job so far."

"Kevin," Gwen scolded him, and then returned her attention to Ben. "What do you mean?"

He sat on the couch and began to rub his temples. "...I feel as if... I'm focusing really hard on something... I don't know what. Like on a test. But at the same time... I feel as if I'm spacing out. You know when you're stretching for a long time in the same position; that ache you get in your muscle? My head sort of feels like that, only... I don't know."

Gwen put a hand on his forehead. "Your temperature's normal," she said as Julie walked in with the aspirin.

"How many can I take without overdosing?" Ben asked as he took the bottle.

"Is it really that bad?" Julie asked.

"I know how to make natural cures!" Jamaica said, trying to be useful.

Ben winced at her loud voice. "Great. Do it." He said as he began to lie down.

"Where's the kitchen?" Jamaica asked. She ran the direction Julie pointed.

As she left, Julie put a hand on Ben's forehead. "You're burning up," she said.

"That's impossible," Gwen argued. "He was just fine literally just a few seconds ago!"

Ben began to break out into a cold sweat. "I don't feel so..." He threw up, and then began to shiver.

"Kevin, call the hospital!" Gwen yelled. Kevin didn't have to be told twice.

As Kevin took out his phone and began dialing, Julie grabbed Ben's hand. "Are you okay?" She asked, worried. "Ben? _Ben? Ben..._"

_**(Transition)**_

It was a dark night.

The sky was red, like it was every day. Mist was everywhere. He didn't know how he could see in front of him. But somehow, he was able to see people gathering around something. Or, at least, they looked like people. Most had tails, tentacles, and hooves. They were all gathering around something, but he wasn't quite sure what. As the fog began to clear, he saw kids, ranging from thirteen to nineteen years old, on the backs of some of the oddest creatures he'd ever seen(well, maybe not _the_ oddest). There were spiders the size of trucks, birds the size of airplanes. He didn't know why, but for some reason, he couldn't help but be interested in a fourteen year-old boy. He wasn't much different from the others. He had red irises with longish black hair, sort of like Kevin's when he was younger, only shorter. His skin tone was sort of a grayish caramel. He wore a black sweatshirt and sweat pants, a red scarf, and yellow goggles. He was on top of a red snake the size of a train. It had eight spider legs and a blood-red stinger at the end of its long tail. The boy was holding on to its reins.

"Pan!" A boy next to him called. He rode a similar animal, only this one had the body of a spider. The boy looked exactly like the other boy, only he wore a red outfit and a black scarf. "Zi jeh alazba?"

_Pan?_ Ben thought. _My dad? Is that really him? And... how can I understand what he's saying?_

The boy had said, "Are you scared?"

"Dela'fi lore titeb," _Fear's for fools,_ Pan replied.

The boy laughed, and then replied, "Pandemis, _delajunbun_ fi lore titeb. Dela fi lore huezz ju poe budlo bilgi." _Pandemis, _fearlessness _is for fools. Fear is for those who have common sense._

_Pandemis,_ Ben thought. _That's his name. Pandemis Snakescin. _Then, he noticed something. _Hey, he looks... human._

It was true. Pan was the only full human, or at least, seemingly human, in the entire crowd. But after carefully observing the creatures in front of him, he realized _all_ the riders were seemingly human. But he was forced to put that aside and focus on what was happening.

Pandemis shook his head. "Loi igo jehz bit modi un jaqo" _Just keep your head in the game._

The other boy shrugged.

Ben had so many questions to ask his birth father. But when he tried to will his voice to speak, he couldn't. He tried again:

_Pandemis!_

Nothing.

He looked down at his hands. They were transparent.

_What's going on?_ He thought.

Suddenly, everyone's attention was directed to a centaur in the front. He stood by two long poles planted on the ground that were a fair distance away from each other, connected at the very top by a long piece of thick silver cloth. It then occurred to him that it was a race.

The Centaur had deep, dark brown hooves. His horse half was a slightly lighter shade of brown, but still dark. The Centaur's human half was slightly lighter than the horse fur, and the hair on his head was black and shaggy. His eyes were a bright shade of orange. He wore a bow around his back, and a leather sash over his shoulder that held many daggers. When everyone was silent, he spoke:

"Conzicor! Fuzeb i bafuzeb, maseb i faseb, cabeb i caneb, shabeb i shaneb. Johu modjud coe oredia lore b iccoi oreejui. Oredia, abeb conal fuzeb, i aneb conal bafuzeb. Oredia, johdu caeb fuj aron hueh-jeb chit un nja njargeb bitoa i chit johdu duer icn. Ordia fi un nja zoide o un Coneeb!"_ People! Women and men, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers. We come here today for a special occasion. Today, girls become women, and boys become men. Today, our children will prove themselves to the great gods above and to our own kind. Today is the great race of the Changing!_

Everyone cheered.

Pandemis grew a big, determined grin on his face, while the boy next to him, most likely his twin, just kept a solemn expression.

As the Centaur continued his speech (something about royal spiders?), Ben examined his current situation. _Am I a ghost?_ He thought. _But, if I'm a ghost, how did I die? And what am I doing here? Why can't I talk? Why is my dad younger than me? Why is my dad the only full human here? Is this the past? Or an alternate universe? Or the future? Is my dad a time traveler? Is this his past but my future? Is this a time where all the Earth's nuclear bombs exploded and the last humans got their DNA mixed with animal DNA? Or are all species mixed with other species from other planets? So, if all that's true, I died and became a mute ghost that somehow can fluently speak some random language, sent to the future to visit my fourteen year-old dad who lives among nuclear-powered animal-alien-human hybrids who are about to compete in a race to please gods above. What? God, I can't think with this god damned headache!_

A horn blew.

"Rande!," _Ready!_ The Centaur yelled.

Pandemis and his possible twin griped their reins; one from excitement, the other from fear.

"Doun!" _Go!_

That one word made Ben feel like he was ready to run across the galaxy.

At that second, the sound of a million hooves running, wings beating, and other creatures moving filled his ears. But when Pan's riding animal started running, Ben was pulled by an unseen yet strong force. His feet hovered just above the ground. How he was able to stand upright, he wasn't sure. But the force pulling him kept him in view of Pandemis.

Pan's riding animal was extremely fast. Whatever object was in the horizon, if there were any, zipped past them. His twin's was equally as fast.

They quickly became second in the line of racers. The person in front of them was a much older boy, probably eighteen or nineteen, who had fiery red hair and a greenish brown sweeter and pants. His complexion was much lighter than Pan's. He was riding a dog-like animal, which was around the size of a racecar. It was black and had no fur. Its' skin was similar to a seal's, and it had bright, glowing red eyes.

"Auj!" _Hey!_ Pandemis called. "Bhkadri!"

The older boy paid no attention to him. Pandemis urged his animal to run faster, and he quickly came neck-and-neck with the boy, Bhkadri.

"Quo gkoi brto nori chit aylc chit b wee ca?" _How does it feel to lose to a pathetic child?_ Pan teased. Bhkadri finally turned to face him, only to see him doing a gesture with his hand Ben could only guess was impolite. Pan then yelled, "Albanca!" Ben wasn't quite sure what that meant.

Pan then speed past him, while his brother rode behind both Pan and Bhkadri, and seemed in no rush.

Though Pandemis didn't notice, Bhkadri was infuriated. But a few minutes passed, and Bhkadri didn't do anything. He just stayed angry.

After a while, Ben was able to see the finish line. Bhkadri didn't look like he would be catching up soon, so it looked like Pandemis was certainly going to win.

But suddenly, Bhkadri made a ninety degree turn. _What's he doing?_ Ben thought, and could see Pandemis was thinking the same thing.

But then Bhkadri stopped, right in the middle of a speeding race, with at least fifty people behind them.

Pandemis drastically slowed down, curios on what he was doing.

Bhkadri sat in his saddle sideways, facing the oncoming competitors. When they came, they all simply rode around him, eager to get to the finish line. All except one.

Pan's brother.

As soon as he realized this, Pandemis made a one-hundred and eighty degree turn. "Epidemis?" Pan yelled.

Pan's twin brother, Epidemis, had stopped his animal right in front of Bhkadri, and dismounted from his animal. "Bhkadri," Epidemis said. And that was the last thing he said.

Before Pandemis could stop him, before Pandemis could help, Bhkadri unsheathed a sword and sliced Epidemis's neck.

_**(Transition)**_

Ben woke up in a hospital bed. Gwen, Kevin, and Julie were next standing to him, worry on all their faces.

"Ben, calm down," Julie was saying.

At first, Ben didn't know what she was talking about. But he then realized he had been crying. He sniffed and wiped a tear away. "What- what happened?" Ben asked.

"You started shaking and drooling all over Julie's couch," Kevin explained. "We called the hospital, and they immediately came. The doctors said you had a seizure. After it stopped, you were out cold for a few hours."

"Oh," Ben replied. "Well, I had the weirdest-"

"You're up?" A voice interrupted.

A man was standing in the middle of the room, looking at a chart. He had longish black hair and dark red irises, almost black. His skin was orange, but Ben couldn't identify exactly where he was from. His face was covered in burn scars and his lips were chapped. He wore a white coat and a stethoscope around his neck, and he had bandages covering his right eye and cheek. He looked almost like a medical pirate.

"This is Doctor Skies," Gwen said. "He was the one who helped get your breathing and heart rate stable."

Ben squinted at him. "Do I know you?" He asked. "You look kind of familiar."

He smiled. "I just have that kind of face."

_No,_ Ben thought. _I definitely know you from somewhere…_

"Well, everything seems normal," Dr. Skies continued. "I think you can go back home."

"Thank you, Dr. Skies," Gwen said.

"It's my job," Dr. Skies said as he walked to the door.

"Wait," Ben said. "What's your full name?"

"Matthew Jonathan Skies," Dr. Skies replied.

"Where are you from?"

"Well, my race is a little complex. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Yes, please."

"I'm half Indian, a quarter Mexican, and a quarter white. Born and raised in Mexico," He chuckled. "I'm not illegal, in case you're wondering. I moved to Bellwood when I was twenty."

"How old are you now?"

"Thirty-two."

Ben processed all that into his mind.

"Well, if you don't have any more trivia," Dr. Skies chuckled. "I have more patients." And so, he left.

The three left in the room faced Ben. "What was with the Q & A?" Kevin asked.

"I know him from somewhere," Ben said. "I swear to god, I do."

"We'll deal with it later," Kevin replied. "Now get dressed before they make you eat cat food."

**A/N:** Poor Ben. This will not be his last episode. R&R

P.S. When I saved this on Microsoft Word, I couldn't find it anywhere, so I actually had to copy and paste the whole thing onto WordPad.


	6. Intelligence

A/N: I don't own Ben 10 or the Rubix Cube.

Chapter 6: Intelligence

"I'm telling you, I know him from somewhere," Ben protested as Kevin drove him back from the hospital.

"I think we got that the twentieth time you said that," Gwen, sitting in the passenger seat, replied.

"But I know him!"

"Look," Kevin was saying, "Maybe he was your doctor when you were little and you forgot about him."

"It's not that," Ben said. "It feels like... something that was missing before, that I didn't noticed was missing, had come back when I saw him."

"So... you're in love with him?" Kevin asked.

"No!"

Kevin was laughing as he parked the car in front of Gwen's house.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Ben was saying as they got out of the car. "While I was passed out, I saw something, like a vision."

"Did you move towards or away from the light?" Kevin teased.

"It wasn't like that," Ben argued. "I saw my dad."

Gwen and Kevin stopped.

"His name's Pandemis. I saw a time when he was younger. His twin brother was killed in a race when he was fourteen."

"What was his name?" Kevin asked. "His brother's, I mean."

"Epidemis."

Kevin laughed.

"It's not funny!" Ben protested. "He _died_!"

"But, why did you see it?" Gwen asked.

"Maybe he was sending me a message," Ben replied.

"If it was a message, what does it mean?"

"I guess we'll have to figure that out."

"Yeah, but we should probably get inside before Jamaica destroys everything," Kevin intervened.

"Good point," Ben said. They entered the house.

"Jamaica?" Ben called, making sure she was okay.

To their surprise, Jamaica had been calmly watching TV while fiddling with a Rubix Cube. As soon as she noticed him, she ran over to give Ben a monster hug. "You're okay!" she cooed.

"Yeah," Ben agreed, pulling away from the hug. "Just a random seizure. Nothing too serious."

She frowned. "But, you didn't _just_ display symptoms of a seizure. You had a fever and a cold sweat. That could be serious."

"Well, they said to call if anything happens again. But they didn't find anything wrong, and I feel fine."

She made a small smile. "Well, mom always did say to enjoy the good that's happening now," This time, she gave him a much softer hug, and Ben even hugged her back. They pulled away.

"Hey," Gwen noticed, "You solved the Rubix Cube!"

"Yeah," Jamaica was saying as she sat down and began fiddling with the toy. "We have all sorts of puzzles like this where I come from. They're really easy."

"Well, Jamaica," Ben was saying, "I guess I misjudged you."

"What do you mean?" Jamaica replied.

Ben shook his head. "Anybody else hungry?"

_**

* * *

**_

"So... what exactly is this again?" Kevin asked, referring to the multi-colored mush Jamaica had prepared.

"Shtakoui," Jamaica said. "Trust me, it's better than it looks."

"Uh..." Kevin hesitated.

"Try it!" Jamaica urged.

"...Ben! You were the one that was hungry. Why don't you try it?"

"I don't know," Ben said, seeming completely unconcerned about the food. "I thought I was hungry. My stomach just feels weird now."

"Are you okay?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," He said in an unconvincing way. "I have to go to the bathroom," and so he left.

"I hope he's okay," Jamaica said, concerned. "Now back to my Shtakoui..."

Kevin gave Gwen a nervous glance.

Gwen sighed. "I'll eat it."

"Go, Gwen!" Kevin cheered as she picked up a spoon.

She took a spoon full and shoved it in her mouth. "You know, it's actually not that bad."

"I told you it wouldn't," Jamaica said.

"You wanna try, Kevin?" Gwen asked him.

"Uh... I don't think-"

He was interrupted by an ear-splitting shriek.

_**

* * *

**_

By the time Ben entered the bathroom, he felt awful.

He locked the door behind him and threw up in the toilet. He was quickly damped in sweat and began shaking. He threw up again.

He crawled into a corner and wrapped his arms around his legs. His stomach was on fire, and his headache was worse than ever.

"How could you?" A voice in his head screamed. "How could you do this to my brother?"

Ben threw up again. He screamed in pain, clutching his head.

"Ben?" He heard Gwen yell.

He wouldn't be able to answer.

He threw up again, and then passed out.

_**

* * *

**_

"Ben?" Gwen yelled after hearing her cousin scream.

They rushed to the bathroom where the scream had come from.

Kevin jiggled the handle a few times. "It's locked!"

"Ben?" Julie put her ear against the door. "Ben?"

There was no answer.

"Stand back!" Kevin said. Julie backed away.

Kevin absorbed the door knob, and then forcefully pushed it, removing it from the door. The door swung open, and they rushed in.

There were puddles of vomit on the floor, and Ben was unconscious in the corner.

"Ben!" Julie knelt down next to her boyfriend and shook him. "Kevin, call the hospital!"

_**

* * *

**_

Young Pandemis was walking to his house, his face tear-streaked.

Ben looked down at his transparent hands. _Another vision,_ He thought, and then redirected his attention to his father.

Pan stopped in front of an old wooden house that looked like a large shack.

"Pandemis!" A woman with golden-caramel skin and glowing yellow eyes opened the door. She had a large dark green snake tail instead of human legs. She rushed over and hugged him. "Bakrdi Urskodiz jeh'zi shija," _Thank Urskidus you're alright_, she said.

Behind her, a little boy, around seven years old, walked out of the house. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. His legs were covered in light blue scales. He had three toes on each foot; two in front, and two in back. His legs bent backwards like a deer's did. He also had a slim blue tail. He looked half dinosaur.

When the Naga pulled away from the hug, she immediately noticed something wrong. "Tie'fi Epidemis?" _Where's Epidemis?_ She asked. When she saw the tearful look on his face, she immediately knew. "Ne'fi abou?" _He's gone?_ Pan nodded as he began to cry. They were both crying as he told his story. But the boy, who at first reacted to the news with great distraught, became extremely angry. He pointed a finger at Pandemis and yelled: "Heek fi jeh ardn! Jeh zanje poe jardiba ne!" _This is your fault! You could have helped him!_

"Bron-" the Naga tried to reason.

"Quo zanje jeh?" _How could you?_ He cried. "Quo zanje jeh li heek chit y shan?" _How could you do this to my brother?_

He then ran away from them at an astonishingly fast speed.

"Bron!" Pan yelled. He and the Naga tried to catch up to him, but he was much faster than both of them.

"Bron!" Pan and the Naga yelled over and over again. But it was no use. They couldn't even see him anymore.

When Pan finally stopped, the Naga had to catch up to him, but not because she was slow, but because Pan was astonishingly fast.

"Ne'fi cly," _He's right_, Pan said.

"Uk ne'fi uki," _No he's not,_ The Naga said.

"Ojai ne fi," _Yes he is._

"Pan-"

"Biy ji poyd boyzi-" _If I __had never-_

"Can!" _Son!_ She put a hand on his shoulder. "Y can," _my son, _She said, this time more gently.

Pan was quiet, and then buried his head into her shoulder. He started to cry.

"Cone durzi, y can," _Change back, my son._

Pan's fingers then grew in size until they brushed the ground. His two humanoid legs turned into eight black and grey snake tails that surrounded his waist in a circle. No part underneath any of his snake tails showed.

His mother hugged him. "Modjud tiren ored," _Come along now,_ she said in a soothing voice. They then left they way they came.

_**

* * *

**_

"You're awake," Ben heard a voice say.

He opened his eyes, and immediately recognized the man in front of him.

Dr. Matthew Jonathan Skies.

"How many times are you going to say that?" Ben asked weakly. He could taste vomit, and a hint of blood, in his mouth.

"Save your strength," He said. "You've been through a lot."

"How long have I been out?"

"About two hours. Not that long."

Ben looked at the clock. It was 7:30, and he hadn't had lunch yet. But he wasn't hungry. "You don't have much of an accent for a Mexican," Ben observed.

"I took accent elimination classes."

"Hm," Was all Ben said. "Have I ever seen you when I was younger?"

"I've only had adult and adolescence patients."

"Oh."

Dr. Skies sat down next to him. "You had a seizure in the bathroom," He said. "Your friend had to bust the door down. You're fine now, but now that you had your second seizure in one day," He shook his head and chuckled nervously. "It's not normal. We have to keep you here for at least a day or two."

Ben nodded. He didn't know how, but he knew Dr. Skies thought he was going to be okay.

"Your friends are outside," Dr. Skies said.

"Let them in," Ben replied.

Dr. Skies nodded, then left the room. He came back with Gwen, Kevin, Julie, and Jamaica.

"I'll leave you kids alone," Dr. Skies said, then left.

Kevin was the first one to speak. "You look like crap."

"Gee," Ben said. "Thanks."

"What he means to say is," Gwen said while giving Kevin a look, "You really scared us back there. Can you lift your head?"

"Yeah, but I'm tired," was Ben's reply.

"What exactly happened back there?"

"I threw up, then I passed out."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

There was silence.

"I think I should go home," Jamaica said.

"What?" Ben asked.

"I miss my family and friends, and I don't want to bother you when you're so sick. I could always just come back another day."

"…Well, alright," Kevin said, "I'll drive you." And so Jamaica and Kevin left the room.

"I had another vision," Ben said.

"Really?" Gwen asked. "What was it about?"

"I'll say when Kevin comes back. I don't want to repeat it."

Gwen nodded. "Dr. Skies told you you'll be staying here?"

"Yeah."

Just then, Dr. Skies opened the door. "You should let him sleep," He said. "It's getting late."

Ben made no argument with him. "You'll visit me every day?"

"It's not prison, Ben," Julie laughed. "But yes, we will."

Ben was asleep before they left.

Dr. Skies turned off the lights. Before he left, he whispered, "Shija ficceb, Ben."

But just before he was about to close the door, Ben weakly murmured:

"Shija inea, fase."

This brought tears to the doctor's eyes. "Shija inea, can," He replied, and then closed the door.

A/N: I bet you skip straight to the translation when they speak Jutdutz. Well, I doubt this is going to be translated any time soon, so ha! And those of you who can understand what they said, good job.


	7. Revelation

A/N: You knew it was true.

Chapter 7: Revelation

"… And then he grew eight snake tails, sort of like an octopus standing on tippy toes. After he transformed, his mom told him to come back home."

Ben had been telling Gwen, Kevin, and Julie about his vision. Ben was still hospitalized, and he wasn't doing better or worse.

"That's definitely _not_ human," Gwen remarked.

"So, I know Pan lost two brothers," Ben said. "But why did he want me to know that?"

"I bet Ecto Plasum could tell you," Gwen said, taking out her laptop (A/N: I almost forgot about EP :P). She typed a few words, and then the screen began to flash. "Got her," she said.

The screen became neutral.

"Ecto Plasum," Gwen said. "What do you know about…?" Gwen paused, then the computer shut down. "What?"

"What happened?" Julie asked.

"She said, 'You don't need me anymore', and then left," Gwen replied.

"What's she talking about?" Kevin asked. "Of course we need her! She's the only lead we have!" He took the computer, turned it back on, and began typing.

"She usually comes right away," Gwen said. "If she doesn't…"

"Guys," Julie was saying, voice filled with concern, "What's wrong with Ben?"

Gwen and Kevin turned to see Ben's current condition. He was shaking, his eyes were fluttering, and only the whites of his eyes were visible.

"He's having another seizure!" Gwen yelled in alarm.

_**(Transition)**_

Ben was back in Julie's bathroom.

Comparing the pain he had now to the pain he had then was like comparing a paper cut to cancer.

He was on all fours, trembling in pain. He threw up. At first, he thought it was vomit, but the yellow liquid turned into dark red blood right before his eyes, then back again. The liquid kept switching from red to yellow at a speed that that made him dizzy. The room began to spin. The walls turned dark black, and the outlines of the room glowed neon colors that made him feel like there was a knife through his head. He collapsed from the pain, praying that he could pass out and start the vision already.

"Nacan…" Ben heard a woman say. It meant: "Grandson…"

Ben felt an instinct take over him. "Mase…" He murmured. "…Mase Urskodiz…"

"Benjamin," She replied. He felt like her voice was the gateway to heaven. "Brto tede dounei chit ae shija…" _It's all going to be okay…_

All pain subsided. The room stopped spinning. The vomit/blood was gone.

"Bitza… y enzite bitoru…" She continued: _Hero… my envy soldier…_

A bright flash of golden light appeared before him. He saw the silhouette of a four-legged animal with wings in the distance.

"Tede fuj ae norve beal…" _All will be over soon…_ The animal said, using the woman's voice.

"Bakrdi jeh, mase Urskodiz…" _Thank you, mother Urskidos_, Ben said. "Mram jeh…" _Bless you…_

Ben blacked out.

_**(Transition)**_

Ben was gasping for air.

There were pads on his bare chest, and he heard the beeping of a heart monitor next to him. Dr. Skies towered over him, holding electrodes in his hands. He put them down, and then put his hand on Ben's shoulder.

"You okay, son?" He asked.

His head and chest hurt. "What happened?"

"You crashed," the doctor replied. "I should ask you the same."

"I was just talking to my friends," Ben replied.

"We're going to have to monitor you more closely," The doctor was saying. "You're getting worse. You had a seizure right before you crashed. And yesterday, you displayed fever-like symptoms before you had a seizure, correct?"

"M-hm," Ben replied weakly.

The doctor shook his head and mumbled, "Doesn't make any sense," then faced Ben again. "You're being moved to the ICU."

"A-alright, just tell Gwen…" Ben was saying before he fell asleep.

"Oh, Ben," Dr. Skies was saying, voice filled with concern.

_**(Transition)**_

"Ugh," Ben moaned as he opened his eyes.

"You okay?" Ben heard Dr. Skies ask.

"I feel like I was in a blender," Ben replied weakly. He focused on opening his eyes. They were dry and sore, but he was able to see the doctor reviewing a chart.

"Where are Gwen and Kevin?"

"They're not allowed to see you yet," Dr. Skies replied, not looking at him. "You've been asleep for two days."

"Two days?" Ben asked, alarmed.

However, the doctor remained calm, nodding, and still focusing on the chart.

"Well, what happened?" Ben asked. "Why was I…" He trailed off.

The doctor sighted, putting the chart down. Still not looking at him, he sat next to Ben.

"Am-am I…" Ben couldn't finish the sentence.

"You're not dying," Dr. Skies said. "But… there's something I have to do. You could be here for the rest of your life if I don't."

"What?" Ben asked.

"It'll be painful, but at least you can leave in a few days."

"Well, what do you have to do?"

The doctor sighed, and then faced him. "I'm sorry." He touched Ben's forehead.

The last thing he heard was the sound of the heart rate monitor going haywire.

_**(Transition)**_

Scenes of Pan's life flashed before him.

Pan was married, had a child, then his wife was murdered. His son grew up.

He saw dinosaurs, the ice age, and the first humans. He knew he saw an uncountable number of moments in Pan's life, but he couldn't remember any of them. He would see one moment, then another one would show, and he wouldn't be able to remember the last one.

Around the 1900's, the visions began to slow down. He saw new inventions being made. People were talking. He started looking at it like a countdown:

20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's…

1993.

Pan was in a cave, working on a piece of what looked like alien tech.

A woman with black hair and blue eyes entered the cave, an angry look on her face.

She was the most beautiful woman Ben had ever seen.

"Pandemis Wrathus Snakescin," She muttered, her tone as cold as ice.

"Yieropia," Pan replied. "It's an honor."

_**(Transition)**_

"Are you okay?" Dr. Skies asked.

Ben opened his eyes. He felt like his skull had been cracked open. "Now I know why I found you so familiar."

"What?"

"You're him, aren't you?" Ben asked. "You're Pandemis Snakescin. My father."

He smiled. "Took you long enough."

A/N: I basically revealed this in the last chapter. Well, whatever.


	8. Questions Will Be Answered

_**A/N**_: Pan, don't abuse your child.

Chapter 8: Questions Will be Answered

Questions raced through Ben's mind. Is he really evil? Why is he here? What did he just do to me?

"Those people were just superstitious. I'm not really evil. I'm here because you're here. I allowed you to see my life up to the point where you were about to be conceived."

Ben blinked. "You-"

"I mastered the art of mind-reading when I was around two thousand years old."

"How-"

"I'm one billion, eight hundred ninety-two million, five hundred twenty-three thousand, seven hundred and twenty-nine (A/N: 1,892,523,729) years old." Pan answered. "My birthday's on December 9."

Ben's jaw dropped.

"Now that I showed off a little, I'll let you finish sentences," Pan said.

"Why did you give me to Sandra and Carl?"

"That was your mother's decision."

"Who is my mother?"

"You know."

"What?"

"What's the last thing you saw?"

"...Yieropia?"

"Yup."

"But you were acting like you just meet her," Ben said, realizing a terrible possibility.

"Well yes and no," Pan replied. "Her consciousness was reincarnated. I did know her almost four billion years ago, but I never met her in that form."

Ben didn't seem reassured.

"You know I'm not lying because you saw this happen." Pan answered his thoughts.

"...She was your first wife," Ben remembered. "And she was murdered."

"She was my Hacuf," Pan said. "My true love."

"...And Bron, your brother, killed her?"

"Half brother," He corrected. "He went insane after Epidemis died. He wanted to make my life miserable, so he killed many people in my life. But my Hacuf, known as Brivolesinq (A/N: Bri- vole-eh-sink) in her first life, couldn't stay dead. Urskidus (A/N: Ur-sky-does), a goddess, harvested her consciousness and placed it in another body, Yieropia's. 1993 was the first time I saw her in one billion, eight hundred ninety-two million, five hundred twenty-three thousand, six hundred and ninety-two (A/N: 1,892,523,692) years."

"How could Yieropia (A/N: Why-row-pea-uh) live that long?" Ben asked.

"She's an alien."

"Wait," Ben's eyes widened. "I'm not human at all?"

"Not one bit."

Ben looked at his hands. His fingers had gotten longer and thinner, and his skin was harder and paler.

"No one really knows what planet she came from," Pan answered before Ben could ask.

Ben paused. "What did you do to her in the cave?"

Pan frowned. "She became stubborn over the years. She wouldn't listen."

Ben's eyes widened. "Y-you-"

"You don't understand-"

"You raped her!"

"Shush!" Pan hushed. "Just listen to me."

Ben's eyes narrowed.

"Alright, I'll start from the beginning. There's a legend-"

"You raped my mother because of a legend?"

Pan rolled his eyes, and then touched his forehead again.

_**(Transition)**_

"Where are we?" Ben asked, standing in a landscape similar to where Pan had been when he was younger.

"Your head," Pan replied. "Now listen."

_Long ago, back when-_

"Who's talking?" Ben asked.

"You'll find out soon! Now shush!"

_...Back when King Clsheri ruled, an evil force, who knew themselves as Boyzi Bitzaeb, or in English, the Ever Heroes. However, others knew them as the Degro Zitalaeb, or the Black Villains (A/N: No racist comments!) Degro also means shadow, so they are both the Black Villains and the Shadow Villains. I'll be referring to them as the Shadow Villains. The Shadow Villains wanted power and to gain control over the powerful. They had a plan to overthrow those who had power. Their villainy was well known, but they were sneaky. They always found some way of gaining information. It seemed that no matter how hard you tried, they always slipped through your fingers._  
_ One day, a young cheetah-woman named Najenalica prayed to the goddess Urskodiz, (A/N: ur-skO-Ds) or Urskidus, as the more modern term, to stop the Shadow Villains. Urskidus is the head of all the gods. Haggins, as this race was known as, were meant to pray to Johadji (A/N: Joe-had-gee), who connected the haggins with the gods. But Najenalica prayed to Urskidus, trying to make her message heard. And it was._  
_ Urskidus called the other gods to a meeting to discuss what they should do about the Shadow Villains. They came to the obvious conclusion to tell the haggins to declare war. They sent Johadji to Earth, which was known as Godea at the time, to deliver the message to King Clsheri._  
_ After Johadji delivered the message to the king, soldiers were pouring out of the castles, bent on defeating the Shadow Villains. However, the Villains were fast, clever, and skilled at fighting. A hand full of them could easily defeat even the largest of armies. They were very clever and manipulative; most times they avoided battle altogether. They even tricked some nations to stop fighting them._  
_ Najenalica saw the bloodshed and mayhem and prayed to Urskidus for another solution. This time, the goddess answered her by coming to her and bringing her to the home in the skies. Najenalica was the first haggin to see Urskidus. She later described her as a silver bear with silver wings, a bronze underbelly, bronze stripes on her back, golden claws, golden teeth and a golden muzzle._  
_ Najenalica told Urskidus of the Shadow Villains tricky techniques. She told her how clever they had been. She told her the haggin's progress in the war. It was at that point that Urskidus realized that they were fighting them all wrong. She knew that if they were going to win, they would have to outsmart them._  
_ Johadji, being the main link between the haggins and the gods, suggested creating an army as clever as the Shadow Villains. Cridora, goddess of wisdom, suggested making a small group of haggins to train those already born. She didn't like the idea of creating multiple armies. Abpreda, goddess of strategy, claimed that if they use their nature against them, they could easily win._  
_ Najenalica agreed with all these ideas. But she had a few ideas. First, she decided there would be seven of them. The number wasn't too big or too small. Second, each would deal with one specific nature out of the seven most tempting natures: Pride, Envy Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust._

"Aren't those the seven deadly sins?" Ben asked.

In response, Pan smacked him upside the head.

"Ouch! What was ?"

"Shush!"

_...Each one would have a different iris color so they could be told apart. Pink for pride, green for envy, red for wrath, yellow for sloth, purple for greed, brown for gluttony, and blue for lust. Third, there would be a leader for the seven. They would revolve leaderships from generation to generation, going in the order: Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Fourth, each leader would be born a twin, so that if one were to expire, the other could take his place in leadership. Fifth, the seven would have a very strong bond, to prevent them from using their powers on each other. Sixth, there would be three families capable of carrying the leaders, so if the whole family were to expire, the next could take leadership._  
_ Urskidus appreciated all her ideas and decided to follow them all closely. To thank her for these points, she made the three families to bare the leaders: the Funton (Foon-ton) family, which was Najenalica's family, the Iera (year-uh) family, who was the family of a great military leader and close friends of the Funtons, and the Snakescin family, a small family of nagas, who were also friends of the Funtons._  
_ Urskidus then named the creatures Haggons (A/N: Hag-own), or Conzites, in their language-_

"Wait, why are their names so similar?" Ben asked. "Haggins and haggons? Conzits and Conzites?"

Pan swiftly raised his hand, causing Ben to flinch.

_...In their language. She and Iervenqo (A/N: ear-ven-ko), goddess of fertility and birth, then created seven fourteen year-old haggons. The leader, Jenik, haggon of lust, was, according to the gods, the blood daughter of Najenalica, although she hadn't given birth to her. The others were the beginning of new families. In this order, Urskidus had named them: Menroe Abebis, Iencaci (Yen-ca-see) Ficcin (Fee-Keen), Galshedro Ineacan (Yen-yeah-can), Dovera Roth, Nal Deladelas, and Jenheir Abbadvafuz (A bad va-fuz). Their last names translated to: Bloodfire, Kinddream, Nightson, Raven, Feardanger, and Burnman._

Ben shivered.

"What's wrong?" Pan asked.

"Nothing," Ben replied. "I just had a bad experience with a Burnman."

_The seven of them were sent down to Earth along with Najenalica. They sent the children to attack a single Shadow Villain. If they succeed in their attack, it would prove them worthy of continuing the plan._

_They hid behind a hut, spying on a Shadow Villain, who had just killed a guard. They made their way silently toward him, making less sound than the wind. If they made one mistake, they would certainly die._

_Jenik gave the others a silent signal; Jenik stepped up first._

_Although all of the seven were very beautiful, Jenik was the most gorgeous. She was young, skin flawless, figure perfect to the curve, and at the time, of age._

_"Who are you?" The shadow villain said, noticing her presence immediately._

_"I am Jenik, daughter of lust," she said, "and that is Galshedro, son of wrath."_

_ The villain wasn't quick enough to dodge the blow that was delivered to the back of the head. He spun around, jumping to pin Galshedro, but he jumped high into the air, out of the way. Galshedro landed on the man's spine foot-first. Galshedro was created to start fights, but never get hurt. This would ultimately prove if they were successful._

_ The man was on his feet before one could blink an eye. Galshedro jumped off him before he was able to fall, and pulled out a fistful of the man's hair as he landed. The man winced, but showed no other sense of pain. He swung his fist to deliver a blow to the younger creature, but he caught it and used it to deliver a blow to the shadow villain instead. When he fell, Galshedro wasted no time, delivering blows to his head while he was down. When the man was unconscious, the god's creation asked Najenalica, "Should I kill him?"_

_"No," she replied, "You have proven yourself. Leave him."_

_Galshedro asked no questions. He got up and swiped the blood off himself._

_"Now," Najenalica continued, "We must test the rest of you._

"Now we can just skip that part," Pan was saying as he touched Ben's forehead again, and the narrating man began to talk rapidly fast, as did the scenes. " Basically they all passed the test. Pride -that's Menroe- could make people space out in their own vanity Envy, Iencaci, could cause people to envy him into violence or depression, insanity, even you just saw Galshedro, wrath, can't get hurt but causes damage Dovera was sloth, made people put there guard down and relax -you could see how badly that ended up in the middle of a fight Nal of greed, turned people against each other and such Jenhir of Gluttony, food took longer to damage them, but sometimes they went in over their heads to do get something -and it normally got them killed and Jenik well, what she did was rated R "So they all proved themselves and there was the war, blah blah blah and here we go," Pan removed his finger from Ben's forehead.

_ The daughters and sons of sins had to pass down their bloodline, but their abilities made it difficult to find someone to love. So, the gods created seven mates for these warriors, one completely free of the sin of that of their mate. The mates, called hacufs, are born spontaneously in random nearby families. The seven were able to create children with others, but they would never be able to create the identical twins that would be the next generation of the seven. If one of the hacufs died, he or she would be reincarnated into another body._

"That's what I wanted you to see," Pan said, touching Ben's forehead again.

**_(Transition)_**

"So when your original hacuf died, she reincarnated into Yieropia," Ben rationalized.

"Ever since she died, I had visions about you," Pan said. "I needed to continue the seven. You were one of the only one who kept me alive for this long."

"So, I'm a part of all this?"

Pan nodded. "Green eyes, son of envy."

"And I have a hacuf?"

"Yes. It's not Julie, but you've met her."

Ben's eyes widened in hope and realization. "Annie?"

"Yes, she reincarnated, but let's not dwell on that and let things happen when they're meant to. For example, your friends were suppose to come in right now."

At that moment, Gwen and Kevin came in. As soon as they did, they stopped dead in their tracks.

"Ben?" Gwen said, looking slightly shocked. "What happened to you?"

"It' his true form," Pan said. "He's not human, you know."

"What are you guys talking about?" Ben asked.

Pan grabbed a mirror from across the room and put it in his hand.

Ben couldn't suppress a gasp.

His skin turned an almost mirror-reflective hard silver; silver-pale-green swirls circled his eyes and forehead; his almost black hair was lined with gold; There was some sort of diamond protruding from the center of his forehead, the spot where Pan had constantly placed his finger, and seemed to be seething with green sparks; but the most startling feature of all seemed to be Ben's eyes, which had turned from a dark grassy green to a bright neon green. They were literally glowing.

"You look a lot like your mother," Pan commented.

"What am I?" Ben asked.

"You're half haggon, half dragon. He he, irony."

"Dragon?"

"The alien race your mother belongs to are dragons, yes."

"Can someone keep us up to date?" Kevin interjected.

"Hi," Pan said, "I'm Pan, Ben's dad."

"You were him the whole time?" Gwen asked. "And Ben's not human at all?"

"Yeah," Pan replied.

"What kind of race are Haggons?"

"Well, we were here before humans, but we are native to earth. Though there aren't many of us left. You see, a long time ago..."

But Ben wasn't listening. He looked at his feet and realized that he must be at least ten feet tall. His feet had the form of a dog's or a horse's, though it looked to him like he would be tiptoeing for the rest of his life. His arms and fingers were very long and thin, and his palm seemed much smaller. He believed he could feel small wings on his back under his hospital gown, accompanied by something that felt like slimy tentacles.

"How do I change back?" Ben finally asked.

"Simple," Pan said, "Your mother's species can transform. All you have to do is focus on transforming, and you'll be yourself in no time."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

With hesitation, Ben closed his eyes and tried to focus on getting rid of his wings. He soon felt it begin to retreat into his back, but he panicked at the uncomfortable movement and released his concentration, causing them to sink back into place.

"Try again," Pan encouraged, though Gwen and Kevin didn't notice any change.

He did so, this time letting his wings fully retreat into his back. The rest went quickly and easily after that, followed by the tentacles, the diamond, the height change, the arms, the feet, the diamond, then finally the hard skin.

"What about the colors?" Ben asked, looking at his very blurry reflection in his silver palm, then to his blood father.

"That's a little trickier," Pan admitted, "but it's basically the same deal."

Gwen and Kevin watched in amazement as Ben's face became skewed in concentration again, watching his silver reflective skin turn a healthy non-reflective apricot, his hair lose it's gold tinge and return to a much lighter brown, and the green swirls disappearing.

When he opened his eyes again, they were back to a seemingly dark green, compared to the previous neon.

"Nice," Gwen said.

"Yeah," Kevin commented, "and after all that, I think I can wait to meet your mother."

_**A/N**_: Sorry for the wait! The story's not over. Far from it, in fact. Hope you enjoyed.


	9. Inquiries Shall Become Acknowledged

A/N: This chapter will be nothing like Questions Will be Answered. This is entirely different.

Chapter 9: Inquiries Shall Become Acknowledged

After Ben had been discharged from the hospital, Pan offered to come and stay at Gwen's house to answer some questions.

"I bet you were happy to leave that place for good," Pan was saying. "Now, you wanted to ask me something?"

"Yeah," Ben said. "First of all, what exactly are the gods?"

"The gods are aliens. They come from a different universe, probably from a different dimension altogether. Occasionally, godlike creatures, like Urskidus and company, come to different planets to create new life. Humans and other animals were created through evolution, but Haggins and Haggons were created by Urskidus. She used the process of using today's modern animals and combining them to make new creatures."

"When I was in Julie's bathroom," Ben said once he was sure Pan was finished, "I think I saw Urskidus. She was talking to me."

"Urskidus is an immensely powerful creature. She has multiple ways of talking to her creations, including telepathy. I don't doubt that she simply wanted to make herself known to you."

"And the seven Haggons that Urskidus created?"

"They were born to the Funton family, but all seven died in battle. They were reincarnated to the Snakescin family. It went on for generations, and the Pikus family waited their turn. But then I came along. I lost my Hacuf before I was able to have twins, and it took me almost two billion years to find her again. I became enemies with the Funton and Pikus families, because I kept them waiting for so long. When I was still apart of the seven, which I was from birth up until you were born, I was Haggon of wrath."

"And you were the leader, right?"

"All generations of Snakescins being apart of the seven were leaders. And since Ben is the latest Snakescin, that makes you the leader of the current seven."

"Who are the current seven?" Gwen asked.

"Ben already knows five of them. Quianna Bloodfire is of pride, Ben, you're of envy, Quan Jonglyudeulim is of wrath, Samuel Aden is of sloth, Manuel O'Neil is of Gluttony, and Tiffany Burnman is of lust."

Gwen might have imagined it, but he could have sworn he saw Ben flinch at the sound of the last name.

"Most of them have kept their original last names, like Bloodfire, Burnman, Snakescin, and even Jonglyudeulim, which is Korean for Kinddream. But Aden and O'Neil were from human parents. Their original names were Nightson and Feardanger.

"It's tradition to give a haggon their sin as a name. It can be first, middle, or last, though it's usually the middle name. Ben's mother, Yeiropia accidentally gave the middle name 'Envy' to Victor already, not aware that she was having twins. When you were born, she didn't want to give the same name twice. So she gave him the middle names Notredame and Victor, making the initials for it N.V. Technically, it counts as Envy."

"What's so important about that?" Ben asked

"Just a fun fact," Pan said honestly.

"So, why do haggons have sins?" Gwen asked. "What are they for?"

"The sin is the weapon haggons are born with to defeat their enemies and protect others," Pan answered.

"So I can use envy as a weapon?" Ben asked. "I thought I would be wrath."

"No, envy. Have you ever felt the need to act overly proud or cocky?"

"Wait, Ben uses that as a weapon?" Kevin asked. "I thought he was just him being annoying."

Pan shook his head. "There are certain ways achievements are displayed that can make even the most modest men jealous. With training, it can, Kevin, be used as a weapon." He paused. "While we're still speaking about the seven, you should know that they not only have sins, but animals that they can transform into as well. Ben's is, ironically, the dragon. Mine, meaning wrath, was the snake. Pride is the cheetah, sloth is, well, the sloth, greed is the raven, Gluttony is, since haggons aren't them, the human."

"But humans aren't…" Gwen stopped in mid-sentence. "Well, technically we are, but…."

Pan continued without her. "And finally, lust is a rabbit. Having the ability to turn into any of these animals carries greater benefits than you think."

"So Mannie can turn into a human?" Ben said, obviously filled with interest. "What does that do? I thought he was already human."

"Wait," Kevin interrupted, "you're keeping track of all this?"

"Kevin," Gwen said warningly.

But Pan ignored his interruption. "I believe his benefit is the ability to tone into his original haggon powers, but you're mainly right, he doesn't have too many advantages in transforming."

"So are you done?" Kevin asked. "I wanted to ask you, what happened to your eye?"

"Kevin!" Gwen scolded.

Pan touched the bandages around his eye and chuckled. "I use to be sensitive about it. That was during a run-in with my brother, Bron. I almost died, but I'm glad I only got away with this. I looked a lot worse."

"So you've seen him recently?" Ben asked.

"No. This was a very long time ago. It's just a scar I preferred to hide from you. But, I don't see any point in it anymore." With that, he began to peel away the bandages.

They could barely suppress a gasp.

Where Pan's eye was suppose to be, there was a cluster of scars and white stretch marks. Instead, his entirely bloodshot, oddly long eye was laid sideways on a deformed cheek, as if someone pulled it there.

"Lava," he explained. "Unnatural. It might have had manna or something of the like. A normal man could have died."

"But you're not normal," Ben stated.

"No," Pan said. "Not in the slightest."

"So what happened to Bron?" Ben asked.

"He got away, obviously. He's still out there, insane."

"What has he been doing?" Ben asked.

"Many things. Mainly, he kills people to spite me."

"That's terrible!" Gwen exclaimed.

"I know," Pan said, "but it is vital that he is captured and not killed." He was looking at Ben.

"Well, I wouldn't kill him," Ben said. "It's my policy. No man left behind."

Pan simply nodded.

"But about Bhkadri," Ben said, "the guy who killed your brother?"

"I killed him in blind rage," Pan said. "But I don't do that anymore."

It took a while for the awkwardness of the statement and the thoughts of disapproval and protest to settle.

"Where's my mother?" Ben asked. "Yeiropea?"

"She's still in Paris," Pan answered. "Er, rather, above Paris. She and your brother lives in the clouds."

"In the clouds? How?"

"She's an alien who can travel through space without a space suit. She can manage. But her home is technically heaven."

"Heaven?"

"When Yeiropea decides someone wants to live beyond death, like Einstein, for example, she can harvest their brainwaves and place them in a new dew-based body a split second before they die. She says it's for the greater good, but I mainly think she's just trying to show off her powers."

"You mean, like the afterlife?" Gwen said.

"So my parents can still be alive?" Ben said.

"We can't be sure," Pan lied. "So, is there anything else?"

"…I don't think so," Ben said after a while. "But if we come up with something, we'll ask you."

They all got up. Kevin went to his house, and Gwen went to go to her room. But right before she entered her room, she realized she forgot her wallet in the living room. She went back downstairs and got it. But before she went back upstairs, she heard voices in the kitchen. Ben and Pan's voices.

"So it's possible Anna hadn't reincarnated yet?" Ben asked.

"Yes," Pan said. "It's possible she's with your mother. But it's not entirely likely."

_Who's Anna?_ Gwen thought.

"But Ben," Pan said. "Tiffany Burnman-"

"I'm never forgiving that whore," Ben said sternly.

"Have you ever considered what benefits it could bring you?" Pan asked.

"No. Because there are none. She's a little bitch who did something unforgivable."

"I'm not asking you to forgive her for what she did. Not immediately, at least. But you guys will have to work together one day."

"I'll never so much as spit in that slut's direction," he said solemnly.

Gwen was aghast. Ben normally kept his language so clean, it shocked most teenagers. She badly wondered who would make him so mad.

"Gwen," Pan said unexpectedly. "You can come out now."

Feeling as though she had just been slapped twice in the face, she walked inside the kitchen. Ben looked almost as shocked as she felt.

"How long have you been there?" Ben asked.

"Long enough," Gwen said, then asked cautiously, "Who's Tiffany?"

"No one," Ben said quickly. "Pan, I'll call you if I need anything." And with that, he stormed upstairs.

"If you won't eavesdrop on us anymore, I have one last thing to tell him," Pan said, walking calmly after him. Embarrassed, Gwen sat on the couch, waiting for him to come back down.

"Ben," Pan said as he entered his room.

"Go away," was Ben's reply.

"Ben, there's one last thing I need to tell you. But you have to promise you won't kill Bron."

"Why? What could he do that would make me kill him?" He asked, losing his patience.

"Ben, promise."

He paused. "Okay. I promise. Now, what did he do?"

Pan was quiet for a moment. "Bron loves the number seven. He thinks it's sacred. He even believes any other number may be unlucky or unholy."

"Yeah," Ben became impatient. "So?"

"Do you remember the seven fires that your parents were killed in?"

The brunette froze. "You mean…."

Pan nodded. "Bron killed your parents to spite me."

A/N: The best parts of religion. Sorry for the boring Q&A chapter. More questions? Comment.


	10. Shades of Blue

A/N: Thank you, Wolfone10, for your comment. I had a bit of writers block, so I was very hesitant, but because of you, I decided to push myself. Lesson learned: If you want me to update my stories, COMMENT! I'm very forgetful.

Also, I got a message from someone named "Liz". She said she didn't understand the story, but didn't specify what she didn't understand. She must have not signed in, because I couldn't reply to her. If any of you guys have trouble understanding the story, can you notify me? Thanks.

Chapter 10: Shades of Blue

Ben was oddly quiet the next day. Gwen longed to know what was bothering him, but had to respect his privacy. Well, that, and whenever she would try to ask him what it was, she would basically tell her to bug off. But something was bothering her:

"Ben's keeping secrets from us."

Kevin, who was driving her to lunch, didn't take his eyes from the road. "I know," he said. "Did you try looking the girls up?" Gwen had told him about Annie and Tiffany.

"No," she replied honestly. "But I will as soon as I get home."

"What do you think that Tiffany girl did?"

"I don't know. He said that what she did was unforgivable. Maybe they dated and she cheated on him?"

"That's probably it. What about Annie?"

"They were talking about reincarnation, so she probably died."

"And you've never heard of either of them?"

"No." Gwen furrowed her eyebrows. "Ben obviously knew them, but why wouldn't he tell us about them? Why would he want to keep them from us?"

Kevin pulled over in front of an Ihop.

"Dunno," Kevin said. "But we can worry about it over lunch."

Unfortunately, the two barely made it out of the car when they saw the building being evacuated in a less than orderly manner. Dreams of a normal meal shattered, the two jumped into action, running inside the building. They weren't expecting what they found.

Inside, the place was deserted, all for a young woman maybe a year older than Kevin. She was crying over a table in a booth.

The duo ran over to her. "Are you alright?" Gwen asked. Then they looked what had been lying on the table.

On the table, there was one of the most hideous, odd, asymmetrical aliens they had ever seen— which, needless to say, was a feat. His head was an upside down tear drop. His nose was flat and almost nonexistent. One of the nostrils flared constantly, while the other seemed useless. His blue iris seemed too vivid, and the whites of his single eye were red, as if from crying. His mouth could only be properly opened by one side, as the other side was held together by a piece of skin. His neck seemed too long and thin to fully support his head. His torso was shaped oddly, as if he had a pointed back, and his torso was placed in third quarter instead of forward. One of his arms sprouted upwards from his back. The hand had four fingers, which included an overly large thumb. He only had three yellow nails on that hand, and each one was different—one of them was a claw, even. He had no other arm, just a six-fingered hand protruding from his side. There were no nails on that hand. He had a shoulder on his chest, but no arm. His left leg— which was about half his torso's height— and foot had no noticeable joints. There was one massive jade claw emerging from his foot. The other leg, however, was twice his size, had two knees, and three toes that seemed to have no bones, as they were lolling about like spaghetti.

The worst part about the creature, however, was not its appearance but the sadness that radiated from the obviously crippled creature.

"You- do you know…" The woman sniffled, "B-Ben Tennyson?"

"Yes," Gwen replied, heartbroken by the scene. "He's my cousin. What happened?"

"You know him?" She asked, hope emerging from her eyes. "Could you take me to him?"

"Of course we can. Can we carry him to the car?" Gwen gestured towards the creature.

"Ray? Of course, just be wary of his neck and right leg… and," She wiped her nose with a napkin, "thank you. Thank you, so much."

As Kevin carried Ray to the backseat of his car, the young woman explained her situation.

"My name is Madeline," She said. "Call me Maddie. My father is a plumber, and I myself am graduating from the academy in a few months." She paused to weep.

"It's okay," Gwen reassured the woman, patting her on the back.

Ray had been placed in the backseat, and Maddie sat at his side. "We were on a field mission with our commander to an unregistered planet. It was previously thought to be uninhabited, but locals in the galaxy began to have sightings of grey creatures wandering about on the planet. We were there to see if this was true. What we found were the Raudnits, a new primitive race of level-1 technology. We were ordered not to disturb them until the plumber reinforcements came. I would have obeyed, but then I found him." She wept again, and then continued under Gwen's encouragement. "I had found a woman of this race. She told me that her son was going to be killed by her tribe and that she needed my help. You see, this race killed all of their crippled and deformed. Some families are able to keep their deformed children a secret, but they are always discovered. She told me to take her son, Ray, and go far away from there. At first, I didn't know where to go, and then I remembered Ben Tennyson. I waited a few days with Ray for the right opportunity to leave, and then I teleported to Earth." She blushed. "Although, I might've missed, because I didn't want to land on a table at a restaurant. The people there were so surprised; they ran away before they could see that nothing was wrong." She gave a weak chuckle, and then began to cry again. "I've started a war," She murmured, "because I took him."

"You did the right thing," Gwen argued. "Ray doesn't deserve to die just because he was born the way he was. You saved an innocent life."

She sniffled. "Thank you," She said. "Ray and I have become good friends. He's more than just physical deformities. On the inside, he's really bright, and creative, and funny. I couldn't do without him."

Gwen smiled. Maddie was much more heroic than she believed. She had done a great thing. "We might even be able to make him better," She said.

"Maybe just for his mouth," she said. "So he could talk better. But we both like him the way he is. It's what makes Ray… Ray."

"That's wonderful," Gwen said. "It's amazing how friendships can become so strong that appearance only strengthens bonds." She looked at Kevin. "I know what it's like."

"What, you're saying I'm ugly?" Kevin joked, pulling over in front of Gwen's house.

Ben was in his new room, the old guest room, the lights off and curtains shut. There were many things on his mind. Tiffany, Annie, Pan, Yieropia, Sandra and Carl (he didn't know who he should be calling his "parents"), but most of all, Bronchite. Oddly enough, it wasn't because the man had killed the people he had known as his parents for most of his life. It was because the name was beginning to sound disturbingly familiar. It began when he first associated the name with the people who raised him. Something about his childhood… and the color of Bronchite's legs during one of the visions of his father's life was oddly familiar… and… he was beginning to remember… something about a box… many sad children, and animals, several animals… yes, he almost had it—

"Ben!" Gwen called.

Just like that, he lost it.

Ben sat up in his bed, disgruntled.

"What?" He yelled.

"Get down here!" She yelled urgently.

Ben caught the urgency in her voice and did his best to rid himself of his anger. He could go back to the memories another day, though he couldn't ignore a sense that the memories were important.

"I'm here," He said, running down the stairs. "What's—?" He stopped when he noticed the woman and the alien. "Who are they?" Ben asked. Gwen and Kevin filled him in on their situation.

Ben walked up to the woman. "You did the right thing, Maddie. I'll make sure you don't get into any trouble."

"What if there's a war?" Maddie asked nervously. "What if the Raudnits want to fight us?"

Ben smiled. "Don't worry. I've stopped bigger wars." He began to fiddle with his Ultimatrix. "I'll call Plumbers Academy and tell them where you are. They'll excuse you for what you did; I'll make sure of that."

"Thank you," Maddie said sincerely.

Ben continued to fiddle for a bit, and then frowned.

"What's wrong?" Gwen asked.

"It's not working," Ben said, perplexed. "Kevin, try your plumber's badge."

Kevin took out his badge and attempted to call the plumbers. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes. "My badge isn't letting me call them."

"Mine either," Gwen said, not needing to be asked to attempt a call herself. "This doesn't make sense. All its other functions work fine."

Ben turned to their guest. "I'm sorry, Maddie. We'll defiantly call them, but we can't right now."

"Oh, no," Maddie said worriedly. "When can you get it working again?"

"As soon as possible, I promise." The brunette turned to his cousin. "Gwen, call Grandpa Max. I'll find somewhere Ray and Maddie can stay while they're here."

"Can it be here?" Maddie asked urgently. "I came all this way for your help. I don't want to be far."

"Of course," Gwen said. "There's another guest room upstairs."

"C'mon," Ben said, urging Maddie forward. He transformed into Goop to make transporting Ray easier, then the trio disappeared upstairs.

"I could've carried him," Kevin pointed out to no one in particular.

"That's great, Kevin," Gwen said. She took out her phone and dialed her Grandfather's number. She held it to her ear for a beat, and then said, "What?"

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked her.

She examined her phone. "My cell's not working, either. What's going on?"

"Maybe your house is a dead zone," Kevin pointed out.

She shot him a look. "Kevin, be serious—!"

Before Kevin could argue that he was being serious, Ben came back down.

"That was fast," Gwen noted.

"They're good," he claimed, ignoring his cousin. "They're trying to get some sleep, so they don't want us to bother them."

"Good," said Kevin. "Now we can go to your Grandpas place without them knowing."

"Kevin!" Gwen yelled.

"No, we need his help," Ben interjected. "And I'm going to guess you weren't able to call him."

Gwen's eyes furrowed in concern; his cousin had gotten very serious all of a sudden. "Ben, is there something wrong?"

"No," He said in a more relaxed fashion. "It's just… they need us, you know?"

"Oh… alright," Gwen said, weary about her cousin's moodiness. "Let's go."

After having told Max Tennyson of their situation and learning that he had never heard of the new race, Gwen and Ben came back around twenty minutes later. To their disappointment, it seemed that Max's communication lines weren't working either. Kevin had agreed to drop them off at their house and work in his garage to see what was wrong with the badges. Max had wanted to say hello to the new plumber and crippled alien, though he also had to ask a few questions. However, Ben told him that he had to fix his communication lines before he did anything else. He told him all the information on Maddie and Ray he needed and left rather hastily.

On the way home, Gwen sat in the back seat with her cousin.

"Ben," she said seriously, "are you sure you're okay?"

"Why?" Ben asked irritably.

"You're acting really serious. You were kind of harsh to Grandpa back there."

Ben narrowed his eyes at her, and then frowned sadly. "I'm sorry." He stared straight. "It's just…" he paused. Then he said quietly, "I still miss them."

_He means his parents_, she realized. Gwen put a hand on his arm. "Ben, I'm sorry. I didn't realize…"

"It's not your fault," Ben assured her. "You never really get over someone dying. One moment I can be fine, but the next…"

Gwen hugged her cousin. "Well, at least it was an accident. They didn't die because of some alien that hated you. Even if it had been, it still wouldn't have been your fault."

She felt him stiffen slightly, accompanied by what sounded like a small whimper, and then he relaxed. She pulled away to see what had caused the sudden movement. His eyes were red and he was smiling sadly.

"Ben?" Gwen was saying, voice full of concern. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"You were right," he said in response. "Nothing's my fault."

Gwen narrowed her eyes. "Did someone—?"

Kevin pulled over quietly, as if he could hide the fact that they had arrived. But Ben was in no apparent mood to talk.

"I'll see you later, Kevin," Ben said hurriedly, then exited the car. Gwen slid over and jogged after him.

"Ben…" Gwen was saying as they entered the house, "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

He turned to her. He was quiet for a long time, but finally he said, "I'm not sure if I can."

Gwen's eyes furrowed. "What do you mean?"

He looked at her in a miserable way. Then, suddenly, his lips curled into a sinister smile. Gwen never could've been able to imagine the expression on her cousin's face if she had been asked before this; it was so disturbing she actually had trouble looking at him directly.

"He's been keeping secrets from you," he whispered. "Big ones; things you can't even comprehend."

As soon as she realized what was happening, Gwen went straight into action. She stood in a basic karate stance, forming energy discs around her fists.

"Who are you?" She demanded. "What have you done with my cousin?"

The hero look-alike chuckled coldly. "Gwendolyn. You let some strangers into your home after hearing a soppy sad story that conveniently couldn't be proven, and left them alone with your cousin. Immediately afterword he begins acting strangely and you wonder why? Come now, Gwendolyn. I've seen what you've done around Ben in the past—I know you're not this stupid." At that moment, his eyes flashed and became blue. A greyish, dull, familiar shade of blue….

"Ray?" Gwen breathed.

"It's the Raider, sweetie," he corrected her. "That is, the mind Raider."

"What are you doing inside my cousin?" She asked angrily.

He laughed. "I would answer you, but those were a poor choice of words!"

Gwen grimaced. She was in no mood for jokes.

"Get out of him!" she demanded. Then a thought struck her. "Where's Maddie?"

"You were thinking about me?" an arrogant voice asked. "How thoughtful of you."

The woman walking out the stairs was nothing short of an entirely different person from the Maddie she had met less than an hour ago.

Previously, Maddie—if that was her name, which it probably wasn't—had been a toothpick-thin woman with long, wavy black hair and fair skin. She had worn a baby blue dress that gradated at the v-shaped neck in three solid layers, from light to dark.

The dress was the same, but this woman was _massive_; she was well built, at least six feet tall, and her curves were noticeably larger than average. Her eyelashes were thick and her ruby-red lips were cherubic. Her hair was combed back, and was in an odd, curvy shape, not unlike Maddie's own body, reaching her lower back. Lastly, her eyes, which had been sky blue, were now pink. As she walked down the stairs, she trailed her index finger on the railing in a way that was supposed to be elegant, but she was anything but.

"Who are you?" She yelled. "What do you want?"

"They call me the Madame," she purred. "And as for what we want? Hm…" she paused, pretending to think. "Nothing at all; we just want to have a little fun."

"That's what I was going to say," the Raider explained, turning to Gwen. "But you ruined it by saying what you did."

"Hey," the Madame snapped angrily, "I didn't—!"

"Not you, you idiot," he pointed to Gwen. "_Her_."

"Oh," she said rather happily. Gwen could tell from her reaction that she was usually the one who ruined things.

"So now that you are entering the Haggin world," the Raider continued, "we all thought it was best that you see what you've gotten into."

"You're Haggins?" Gwen asked.

The Madame laughed with mirth, flinging her arms in the air. "We're gods!" She exclaimed delightedly.

"Aliens," the Raider clarified. "Powerful ones. We appeared in early Haggin mythology."

"And you're powerful enough to disable all local communications by just _thinking _about it?" Gwen gathered.

"That's right," the Madame responded, taking a seat on thin air.

"Well," the Raider said, "I believe we made our point." He shuddered, and the real Raider jumped out of Ben's forehead.

"It's been fun," he continued in clear, recognizable speech as he stood erect without any signs of difficulty.

"Wait, not yet," the Madame protested. She stared at a couch for a bit, and it combusted. "_Now_ it's been fun."

Gwen pulled a blanket out of the closet and hastily swatted out the fire with it.

"And one more thing," the Madame was saying. She faced Ben. "Raudnits aren't real. But they are based on your mother. You'll figure it out."

She laughed as they disappeared from plain sight.

"Ben?" She called out. "Are you alright?"

She didn't hear anything from him. As soon as the fire was out, she rushed towards her cousin. He looked shaken.

"Ben? Can you hear me?"

When he didn't answer, she grabbed his arms and gently shook him.

"Ben, talk to me. What happened?"

Slowly, he responded: "I was laying him on the bed, and… he jumped into me. Like my head was a pool."

"Are you alright?" She asked, concerned.

"…He dug around in my mind… now he knows things I've never told anyone. Deepest secrets and feelings…"

She shook him again. "Ben, look at me. It's going to be okay. I know what it's like to have your head invaded like that."

"My memories were tossed around like pieces of paper… like dirt…"

"Ben, you _have _to snap out of it. It's going to be okay. I'm going to call Kevin."

"Kevin…" Ben whispered as Gwen dialed her phone. And then: "Tiffany Burnman."

Gwen stopped suddenly. "What about Tiffany Burnman?" She said this cautiously, as if she could disturb his line of thought if she talked too much."

"He made me relive…"

She was about to ask who "he" was, when she remembered the Raider.

"He made me think about… her sister."

"Her sister? Who's her sister?"

"_Brooklyn_." He said the name as if he were spitting out a plague. "They called her 'Brooklyn Bridget', so I didn't know they were related."

"What did Brooklyn Burnman do?" She asked carefully.

"Brooklyn Bridge… made me feel like shit."

Gwen's eyes furrowed in concern. Again with the swearing. She must have done something terrible.

"Ben, what did she do?"

He was quiet for a full minute. And then:

"She raped me."

"What?" Gwen was aghast. "When did this happen?"

"Annabeth Abraham," Ben continued, "Taught me how to love again."

_And she's dead_, Gwen thought.

"I'll talk about it when I'm ready, alright?" he said, the daze he had been in beginning to fade. "I'm just… going to stay in my place for a few days to get over this." As he turned, he muttered, "I feel like it happened all over again…"

Gwen ran over and hugged her cousin. "I'm going with you," she said, tears spilling over. "You're going to tell me everything, okay? I want to help you."

She felt him nod.

"I'll tell mom and dad afterwards. Ben…" she paused. "We love you."

He nodded again. She heard him begin to cry with her.

"It's alright, Ben…" she assured him. "It's alright…."

At that moment, Kevin came through the door.

"I'm not sure what was wrong. Everything looked fine, but…" he surveyed the scene in front of him. "…what the heck happened here?"

A/N: SORRY for the long wait. If it makes it any different, it feels good to work on KIAB again. Were Ray and Maddie's twists predictable? Was the pace too fast? Do you have any advice? Please comment.

Also, I have a group on DeviantART specifically aimed at Ben 10 fan fiction authors aiming to improve:

If you want to see what the Madame and the Raider look like, look them up on DeviantART. My username's the same.


End file.
